24 Days To Go

Well this week it has hit me that our lives are about to change forever. We have been preparing for this moment for over 19 years. Britton is leaving in 24 days.

Britton started out in life born to two very young nervous parents. He came in as an emergency c-section to me. I remember feeling so overwhelmed as the doctor's wheeled me into the operating room. I remember telling Dave that I needed my mom there, (they had gone home earlier since I wasn't moving very fast) and I was shaking with fright and anesthesia.

The first night home I remember just thinking, "What have we done, our lives will never be the same." I was so overwhelmed with the responsibility of being his mother, realizing that we would never get a full nights sleep for the next 18+ years. I worried about the world that we were living in and the trials that he would have to face. The first of those being a small hemangioma (blood vessel) on the surface of his nose, the pressure quickly closing off the air passage of the nostril. We traveled to Salt Lake to visit a specialist for a "new laser" surgery to stop the growth. It was very hard to hold your 6 month old down as they lasered the nose.

He was talking sentences at 9 months. He was more of a friend than a child. We could reason with him and tell him the reason that he shouldn't do something and he was very obedient. He was so sweet, yet not a hugger or lovey. He was very independent.

He was a great big brother to Colton. He chose Colton's name for us. He had a best friend at the day care named Colt. The first day home with Colton from the hospital, he changed from my baby to the BIG BROTHER. He loved Colton, I never worried about him being alone with him.

At age 3 we moved to Germany. After we landed in the airport in Frankfurt, he and I went to this awful bathroom, our first sight of Germany. He and I came out and sat on the floor as Dave loaded us up with suitcases and we cried that we wanted to go back home.

At age 5 I loaded him on the Kindergarten bus bound for the Air Base school. He wanted to ride the bus, but I followed it in the car. I was a wreck whenever I thought of him riding the bus home in the afternoon, since the bus started at the High School, picked up students and then traveled to the junior high and then finally to the elementary to get the students. I was alarmed when he told me that a particular Jr High boy had befriended him and gave him his half drunk bottle of Snapple.

At age 8 he was baptized, he told me that he had never felt this clean and new before. He hoped he would always feel this way. He loved scouts.

He excelled in school, science being his favorite. He loved sports, he was especially talented in basketball. He and Colton played on the same football team his second year. Dave and I enjoyed watching them. During one football practice they did a drill where they partnered up and had to carry their partner across the field on their backs. He and Colton paired up and very slowly Britton carried Colton, weaving around under his weight. People yelled, he ain't heavy, he's your brother. Britton and Colton fought as brothers do, but Britton has always protected Colton.

He was an excellent babysitter to Jackson. He loved to spend one on one time with Jackson. He was such a great help to me. I wondered why I didn't wait to have all my children later so that I could have built in helpers.

I worried again as he started 7th grade. He was nervous, but just set his mind that it was better to just face his fears and get it over with than to worry about it. He grew up so fast it seemed to me. At 13 he got his Eagle Scout by building geese nesting platforms in the park.

He tried out for the singing group and surprised himself by making it in the 8th grade. He had to leave his shy comfort zone by singing solos in class. This class started his talent for music. His earlier piano lessons by his Grandma and others grew his love for music and the piano.

In priesthood he was asked to play the piano during opening exercises. He was very fond of a few hymns that the entire priesthood of our ward soon memorized the words to.

In high school his love for music also enhanced his social life by being in the musical groups and the parties that happened afterward. He surprised us all by announcing that he was trying out for the school play Will Rogers Follies. He was so brave to be the one Native American that danced alone on the drum bare-chested. We had to teach him about Spray on Tan for that one.

He also learned how to trick rope as a cowboy in the play, a talent that we hope he will keep for years to come.

After Graduation from Seminary and High School, he pleased us so by paying his way to the first semester of college. His first day of college was very challenging for him. His anatomy teacher told the class that if they were freshman they did not have what it took to take his class, he told them all to look around and realize that over half of them would flunk out of the class. This only challenged him to prove him wrong. Many, many, many hours and hours were spent studying. He did it, 100 % on his final exam and an A for the class.

This brings us to today, my baby is leaving the nest to go and serve the Lord. Dave and I am so proud of him. He is prepared, (not because of anything that we have taught him or done for him in his life,) He is ready. Britton, We have watched you grow, to develop into the man that you are. We love you, thank you for your testimony and endurance. You are going to do well. You have it in you to share what you love in your life with others. Thank you for being our son and one of our best friends, we want you to go and know that we are wanting you to be there doing what you are supposed to do.

Where did the years go? I am sure that two years from now, I will be asking the same question as we prepare for you to return.

By the way, I was right about not ever sleeping the whole night through, we still wait up for the boys all those years later, I am sure that we will continue to for years to come.